Superman's God Sword From Space Is Wild
Vložit
- čas přidán 31. 08. 2022
- Check Out Kamikoto: Get An Extra 50USD off on any purchase with discount code CasuallyComics, visit kamikoto.com/CasuallyComics
Superman is not necessarily known for his arsenal of weapons or gadgets, unlike some other DC Comics characters. However, that doesn't mean he hasn't at times had some interesting items all his known. We travel back to the Bronze Age shortly before Crisis to visit Superman's Sword. An annual that pits the Man Of Steel against a past enemy, and presents him with a question. Would he like to be a God? The Sword of Superman has existed since the dawn of time, but why? This story by Elliot S Maggin seeks to expand the Superman mythos to cosmic levels. Does it do that? Find out here on Casually Comics!
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @casuallycomics
What If Stan Lee Created Batman?
• What If Stan Lee Creat...
The DARK TRUTH Behind Superman's Glasses!
• The DARK TRUTH Behind ...
#casuallycomics #superman #dccomics #comics #comicbooks #supermansword #sword
P.O Box :
Sasha Wood
88 Wyndham St N
P.O Box 92 Guelph,
Guelph, On, Canada
N1H 6J9
Kofi -
ko-fi.com/casuallycomics
Follow Me On Insta -
/ casuallycomics
Business Inquiries/Contact Me:
casuallycomics@gmail.com casually comics - Zábava
Check Out Kamikoto: Get An Extra 50USD off on any purchase with discount code CasuallyComics, visit kamikoto.com/CasuallyComics
As much trouble that Jimmy gets into, Superman should get Jimmy electronically chipped, like people do with their pets. Or at least get Jimmy an electronic ankle bracelet. 😂🤣
Spiderman in the captain universe saga did it better. It was revealed that he could have reclaimed the Uni power but he rejected it because he didn't want to be the universe protector instead choosing to stay the friendly neighborhood spiderman because because he didn't want the responsibility of so much power. You should cover that sometime
On the one hand, a sword granting cosmic power isn't the worst trope out there. It worked for He-Man. On the other hand, I think the DCAU did the whole "Superman loses public approval" plot better. And even that doesn't last long when you remember the Legion of Superheroes say Superman was their inspiration in the future.
I mean, Superman's God Sword is nice, but can it beat the pristine grace and affordable pricing of a Kamikoto knife set?
Lmao
I mean I mean I mean I mean I mean I mean I mean I mean...
Exactly. The God Sword is a little bit of overkill when you just want to slice potatoes and tomatoes.
I'm surprised Grant Morrison hasn't found some way to bring back the sword. It's very much in their wheelhouse
This sword has +0 Attack and -50 Charisma.
It looks more like a Booster Gold Sword.
A Booster Gold series where he's questing for some artifact of power but he doesn't know what one and starts bungling through history into stories with lesser known artifacts of supreme power would be hilarious. Booster Gold trying to systemically loot the timeline of obscure powerful artifacts until he finds the right one, for a good purpose but still not being able to just explain himself to everyone every time he needs one.
@@PosthumanHeresy what if they used booster as a retcon for “forgotten” artifacts like the sword here by saying he’s collecting them because they’re corrupting the time stream or something
"By the Blood of Krypton, I HAVE THE POWER!!!"
Loved the video. I hope you tackle the Superman Vs. He-Man crossover from DC Comics Presents #47.
I think this would have been a fantastic thing to bring back for the Reign of the Supermen storyline. Somebody gets the sword and decides to be Superman. Seems way more straightforward than the Eradicator.
but damn bro, the eradicator looked sick. One of my favorite superman designs ever.
But that is a good concept, and you could even play into the idea that the person starts only being superman because of the cheers, tying into the original story.
The Eradicator kind of confuses me. He’s not one of my favorites .
@@matthewschwartz6607 how is he confusing?
He's an AI that cloned superman's body and went out enforcing his own messed up sense of justice.
@@ProjektTaku - I don’t know. I just don’t really understand the character. He’s not one of my favorites. He was fine in the original story, but they shouldn’t have brought him back. He was also a bit “90’s.”.
@@matthewschwartz6607 I think he came out in 90s the most edgy time in comics so yeah makes sense
If only Superman had a place where he could safely* keep artifacts of his adventures, oh well.
As always thank you so very much for the video.
(*Safely... yeah, right. How many times have we seen a story of villains, or friends (looking at you Jimmy Olsen,) encountering something dangerous in the Fortress of Solitude and activating it.)
I think he just considered the temptation a bit too great.
Can you imagine if superman kept it on the fortress of solitude and one day Jimmy touches it and becomes a cosmic god?
Like, the sword was meant for him, not Superman.
I really like your idea about contrasting King Kosmos, who uses his power because he desperately needs the adoration, awe and submission of the masses with Superman, who cares only about using his power to do the right thing and would do it even if everyone hated him for it. It really seems like that's what this story SHOULD have been about.
Superman's iconic "thing" is the Supermobile. Who doesn't want a rocket car with mechanical fists? "I punch you with my car!" They even made a toy for it.
In some ways, Bronze Age Superman could be even stranger than Silver Age Superman. In the Silver Age, at least most of the strangeness was played for laughs; something this straightlaced and tryin'-to-be-profound hits strange in a whole different way.
Also, it's a little thing, but I love that, instead of making a werewolf sound, you just said the words "a-woo".
That is almost creepy I literally just heard about this today. Found the storyline while browsing TV Tropes, thought it was weird.
What trope was it
@@joshuarichmond2688 'Forged by the Gods' I think.
@@readingking1421 thanks
Sasha did you know that this comic cover was the one who inspired current action comics writer phillip kennedy johnson to write a sword and sorcery story with superman in the currently finished warworld saga
When you talked about Superman not only finding the sword, but seeing it’s insignia, I somehow imagine Batman, or Jimmy Olsen (maybe both!) snickering in the background. “I put the S on it, and now he thinks it’s meant for him! Te he he he…”
Then the sword powers up.
“Wait…what!?!”
At least he didn’t get a Prince Valliant bowl cut…
"Unfocus villain behavior. Get a theme Ozzy, it will help you out" I love the implication that supervilliany as a therapeutic tool for people with ADHD and OCD
Superman just being a decent man. That's it, just a man, like any other, with the powers of a god, is the core of what makes him the greatest hero of our age. He needs no explanations of destiny.
Clark is just a kid who has the power to change the world, so he uses it for good because of how he was raised.
Superman needing the cheers of the crowd to pull that last great push of strength feels to me like Elliot S! Maggin was drawing from professional wrestling. In professional wrestling, the babyface will often find themself in a tight spot, whether that's on the ground or in a hold, and they rely on the rally of the crowd to build them up again and make the comeback. For all his faults as both a wrestler & a human being, Hulk Hogan perfected this and the spot is now called "hulking up." This is an interesting concept for Superman, the ultimate babyface as it alters his relationship w/ the common citizens of the DCU. Now, they're not just spectators; they're participants w/ their cheers galvanizing the Man of Steel, making his victories theirs. I like it. I don't think it's explored terribly well here, but you can certainly tell a compelling Superman story w/ this notion.
It's also the key piece of Goku's signature finishing move, the Spirit Bomb, and when he can't do it right because he's being rude to humanity he needs an actual professional wrestler to do it for him.
@@PosthumanHeresy, I did not know this! That’s fascinating to me.
@@theamaries.7747 Yeah, it's actually the final battle of the series. Goku needs to power up a massive Spirit Bomb to kill a being that wants to eliminate all life in the universe, which requires everyone on Earth to give energy to it voluntarily, but nobody's willing to give him it because he's just not personable. Luckily one of the only people with him is a world-famous completely fake martial artist whom the world believes is a real fighter and hero and has a personality entirely based on 80s wrestling. He takes over the "give your energy" pleading and the world does it immediately.
Never heard of the term babyface before but the Hercule + Spirit Bomb comparison example was a solid explanation
I don't think his disappearance being unnoticed has to do with being a young hot-shot reporter as much as it has to do with him being Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olson. It's just expected at this point. He probably IS a pebble on a beach somewhere or a werewolf again but..meh..he does pretty good for that stuff happening all the time. The problem is typically resolved with him back to his old routine in a few days anyway, so why get flustered? Superman is on it. It gets boring after a while..why do you think his solo title has been ended. Multiple times..😂
Honestly that's why I consider Jimmy not even thinking the creature might be Superman to be absurd. Jimmy lives with this 24/7 and Superman is missing. The creature is only attacking people Superman has an issue with.
Maggin definitely had a vision of Superman being more than just a superhero -- he saw him as a genuine Myth and Legend. And that viewpoint led to some great, epic stories (his two Superman novels being perhaps the best example). But yeah, this one feels like it needed a couple more drafts to really nail down the plot and themes. Superman rejecting a chance at ultimate power because it would cost him his humanity is definitely a cool idea worth developing (although it's hard to imagine how Silver/Bronze Age Superman could actually *be* any more powerful...).
Let's just have Grant Morrison write a sequel where he has access to all the Vertigo (Lucifer and Sandman primarily) stuff since The Presence played such a big role here. This feels like a prototype to doing that.
lol yeah, the man in the silver age could do literally anything. He had no limits.
Yeah, it either works or... ends up feeling like attempting to make a shared universe all about this one character and ramming home how much better he was than everyone else. It leaves Maggin's stuff feeling real hit or miss for me.
I'd say that the story is too pretentious for its own good. Making superman into a myth is good concept but you kind of have to balance the epic and the character. All-star superman is a good example of this showing that Superman values and view of the world makes him a legend.
A story that waxes poetic and references classics needs to earn it.
@@notaraven I'd take a random silver age story over all star's pseudo silver age any day.
Is it me or did Superman's inner dialog here sound alot like Bizarro.
Speaking of clones, I could really see Lex making a Superman clone (under his control) and retrieving the hilt from space, to tap into it's power.
Supes just be leaving dangerous artifacts loose for others to find but at least it's away from Jimmy...for now.
This reminds me of what Geoff Johns did with Superman in "Doomsday Clock"...That Superman has always existed in different ways, across a 'Metaverse' where changes to reality continually reverberate across all worlds. The multiverse is eternally rebooted, with Superman always at the center.
I always like Superman facing thematic menaces. Wish Ozy was a little more subtle, the throngs more disinterested than frightened and Clark more in crisis before triumphing but it was fun.
Exactly! Since superman is so powerful, placing him against more thematic villains would be perfect.
I remember reading this comic when I was a kid. All that predestined legacy stuff was over my head and all I can think of is why did Superman need a sword? A few years later, I read Eliot S Maggin's novel Miracle Monday where Superman battles Satan and a lot of the same cosmic quasi-religious themes are there also. In fact, I think this Annual references Miracle Monday, if I remember. I think the point was to present Superman has a pure incorruptible hero, though his need for acclaim presented here is odd.
I would like to think this is where Musk and Bezos got the idea that billionaires should go to space It would explain a few things
lol I can imagine them reading this as kids and them being like "I'm gonna go to space!".
" Real orange juice, don't mind if I do!" Superman, standing for truth, justice and nicking your orange juice!
Supes was surprised because he expected Tang.
Needed more Jimmy in this comic. *Clark also had a cool Bleach sword in one comic when he traveled to a magic dystopian future. Crazy story.*
Superman was always my favorite hero but I gave the comics during that time a miss for the most part. They were trying to write stories about a near god known across all of time and space. It didn't work for me. It was at the height of his power creep. I was so happy after Crisis when they "grounded" him.
Imagine being happy because their favorite hero is nerfed lol, talk about cucked mentality smh. No wonder that batman/ww fans shit all over superman fans lmao.
lol yeah. I think it can work around him, such as building a legend, but having he himself as a simply "grounded" character.
And I actually don't mind the power creep he has, where the man is basically invincible.
That is Elliot S! Maggins (notice the ! in his name), who always writes Superman as a pre-ordained interstellar phenomenon, an almost religious figure. a bunch of his stories end up being book-ended as legends told sometime in the far future. The main problem is that Maggins never justifies Superman how he portrays him. Why is Superman this perfect being loved around the universe that always does the right thing? Because he's Superman! In Morrison's Superman comics, especially Final Crisis, Morrison depicts Superman as the proto-superhero, the archetypical superhero that all superheroes derive from. Maggins is the one who started this depiction of Superman. Others suggest reading the Novel Miracle Monday, that book does better at presenting Maggins's Superman.
I think it’s the kind of novel that must have been particularly interesting for adult readers in the context of when it was released. Or maybe in the pre-Victorian era when religion and humanism where bigger topics lol. Either way I can see why people could like this (and I did enjoy it) even if it doesn’t really fit the character perfectly.
I remember this issue! That was a nice shout out to 2001, man moving from caveman to spaceships...Maybe a retrospective of the work of Elliott S. Maggin, and esp his Superman novels, might be a good idea?
This made me think of "Watchmen" more than once. 🤔
On a separate note, that drawing of the then-current space shuttle reminded me of how back then we had an actual thing that seemed straight out of science fiction. A real shame we don't have a modern equivalent, despite the astounding advances in technology since then.
yeah, really wish we got a modern equivalent.
Would probably look sick.
Having a sword in the early '80s
Superman 🤝 The Atom
I actually bought this the day it came out and read it with my stack of comics. I liked the story, but wasn't blown away by it. In all honesty, the image of Superman jigsawing was what stayed with me over the years. As a kid, I thought ti was a bit horrific....now decades later, it kinda still is.
By the time I read this story when it first came out, I had already read other Maggin stories (his two novels "Last Son of Krypton" and "Miracle Monday" and his short comics story "The Greatest Green Lantern of All" from Superman #257). The idea that "random chance" (AKA God) had crafted a sword from leftover matter from the Big Bang expressly for Kal-El's use in the future fit in with all these previous tales Maggin had written. It seems to me that he was trying to tell the audience that Superman was the pre-destined "Chosen Champion of the Universe" -- a secular messiah, if you will. Big, cosmic crossover events had not yet taken root as an industry staple at this time, but it always seemed as if Maggin just might have had something in mind for Kal-El along those lines. I'd love to ask him about that, if I ever get the chance.
As for the talking in space-thing: according to my head canon, Superman can psycho-kinetically vibrate the air around a person's ears from a distance and simulates his own voice while doing so to talk to them. He did this with the astronauts. He "heard" them by reading their lips.
One of Superman’s powers is being able to sense, through sight and/or hearing, the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Knowing that, Superman was ‘hearing’ the radio signals of the radios built into the spacesuits the astronauts are wearing (how else can they talk between themselves?) and then ‘speaking’ to them on the same radio frequency. So, he can ‘talk’ in space under certain conditions but still can’t speak in a traditional (breath passing through a larynx to create audible vibrations)
I believe the canonical explanation for Superman talking in space (Pre-Crisis) was "super-ventriloquism". The lips might be moving in space, but they can make their actual voice come from anywhere they want.
You need to read Miracle Monday (and Last Son of Krypton) for Super Woman and sword origins, both by Elliot S! Maggin.
Kal-El means star child in kryptonian.
Great episode! I didn't know any of this!
You mentioned Super-Woman, she would be a great character to do a little feature on. I've read her (only?) two comic appearances.
Other appearances: She first appeared in the novel "Miracle Monday" as Kristin Wells but she's not Superwoman yet in this story. She also has a cameo in "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" as one of the heroes who can't get through the force field surrounding The Fortress of Solitude.
I'm assuming this doesn't count "her" appearance in Stirling Gates' Supergirl? That's a fun bit.
Batman was in the batcave watching Superman return to earth with a alien sword screaming he's got a f****** sword now!!? 😂😂
How many people knew Superman does not need gravity to drink in space because his powers? Kon El used the same power to spray-paint the Young Justice HQ.
I didn't.
I love that you delve into these silver age stories 😁.
Her in depth analyses are refreshing from the take it as it comes, or the you-know-what-would-be-really-cool comments, from many comics CZcamsrs you see.
8:21 They always do seem to go to the same few points in time, don't they...? What if the reason that all these events - the assassination of Lincoln and JFK, the rise of Hitler or the extinction of the dinosaurs - all happen instead of being stopped by time-travelers from the future isn't because time-travel wil never exist or because time is pre-ordained and on rails or whatever, but because it _has_ been discovered but there are _so many_ people traveling back to those moments that they end up tripping over each other and getting in each others' way?
JFK gets shot from an impossible angle in Deeley Plaza because 15 people suddenly bamf into existence one after another behind that same small grassy knoll, they all bump into each other so that nobody is able to get to the gunman in time to stop him, and the reason no evidence is ever found of his being there is because the gunman himself is accidentally caught up in the wake of one traveler's panicked disappearance...
I love the comedic potential of a whole crowd of people appearing out of thin air in a confined space at the exact same moment, getting tangled up with each other like passengers boarding a crowded subway car as they scramble to get that one guy with the rifle and vanishing just as quickly when they realise they can't stop the event, and in doing so manage to create the same mysterious catastrophe they had time-traveled in the first place to prevent! lol
People just don't understand just how not boring Superman is. I see so many comments disrespecting the man of steel and it's both disheartening and infuriating.
“ I Have The Power…But Unlike Prince Adam I Don’t Need No Sword “ this story is 🤔 there 🤷🏾♂️ Definitely picked a Bunch of Cherries for the letter page … & Sasha I was Much more concerned about how You handled that Kamikoto cleaver than Superman handling the Blade of that sword…Stay Safe & Keep Up The Outstanding Work ( 3 Straight Days Yay!!!) 🖖🏾
“…batman and all his bat-things…”
It was this line that give me the inspiration to realize that if Batman ever moved his field operations into a skyscraper or a tower or bell tower…
It would be The Belfry.
5:20 That Wolf-Jimmy panel is wonderful.
6:25 "Get a theme; it will help." 😆😆😆
Actually..this is not the only Supersword comic. There was an elseworlds where they mixed the typical Superman story with that of king Aurthur. Supes crashed to earth in England during the middle ages similar to how 'Red Sun' shifted things. He winds up being raised by a blacksmith and even forges Excalibur from the metal of his escape pid. Since it was found with him and he is the only one both strong enough to shape it and endure the level of heat required to smelt it; it still is given the "destiny" theme. It was material meant for hik to turn into a sword. We also get evil king/knight lex and Lady Lois. Also..yeah..they all die. Yep. Lex murders Lois. Super and lex then take each other out. Lex got a piece of kryptonite so he was able to weaken Supes enough to fatally strike him but the hero takes out the villain at the same time so yeah..it was a pretty interesting but also depressing story where Supes' is buried with his sword and becomes a legend..which is ultimately the Arthurian one through the telephone game and time. It honestly reminds me a bit of midevil spiderman..like..every alternate reality superhero from a dark ages themed time period is destined to tragedy arn't they?
Well it was the "Dark Ages".
Sorry -- couldn't resist.
"Such Power! I've never felt power like this before!!" Prof X would later perfect this...
Late to the party but I think the letters were an example of the hypnotic effect of purple prose. It can get people off into their own imaginations, throwing around implications and vague imagery that the reader can get lost in, and impose their own sense of the profound on. It's kind of a cheap trick, but I think it's rarely intentional, just an effect of a writer over-extending themselves.
No expertise to back this up, just an observation, but it's been a strong and striking effect at times, so something like this has got to be in play when people earnestly love something that could also fairly be described as less than well-thought-out and not entirely coherent, yet failing to be a real abstraction. & I love the phrase "1 box of purple prose later" btw!
A cape with super pockets is his best paraphernalia.
Such coincidences with the logo, this reads more like a golden age, multi color kryptonite, turtle boy story.
That letters column is full of ringers, DC employees wrote that dreck.
Spider-Man and his webs, Daredevil and his Billy Clubs, Wonder Woman and her lasso, Green Lantern and his Power Ring, etc .
8:15 "Alongside superwoman" Well that is a character who has been memory-holed and forgotten, what's her deal?
she's a woman...that's super.
Assuming you haven't googled it the past year, here's the elevator pitch: Time traveling historian creates secret identity that she went into past to solve.
It was a nice idea with the cosmic angle being very of its time when you think about when it was written.
"You cant have their food. You can fly to earth for your own snacks." I -love this.
When I think of Superman's stuff I think of the Supermobile.
Yes, Kal had one, can't let Batman and Spider-Man have all the fun.
Also in a Superman novel written by Maggin Kal El means star child in Kryptonian.
Amazing how fast you're pumping out new videos; I'm pretty much watching a new one every day
Eliot S! Maggin always tried to do strange half grown-up mythology, like a serious novel about Santa Claus
All I can think of is how they'll tie this in with DC Post-Doomsday Clock, Replace Ozzy with Adrian Veidt and Redo the entire arc in the new universe, sword and all
That climax is literally exactly like the climax of Ben 10 Ultimate Alien!
Vilgax absorbs the cosmic being Dagon.
Ben gets the magical sword Ascalon.
Ben defeats and unfuses Dagon and Vilgax.
Vilgax tells Ben he could use the sword to destroy ALL evil ever.
Ben says no and gives up the sword.
1:20 A wide range of... what? I've re-listened to this several time, and I *know* she's not saying what I think she's saying, but it's all I can hear!
Oh wait... _products_ to _choose_ from! That makes so much more sense!
Action Comics 578 "The Most Popular Man in Metropolis." While I am mixed about the ending I personally feel like that is story is more worthy of the title "The Day the Crowd Stopped Cheering" than the story featured here because it actually focuses on that aspect without all the unnecessary themes. Plus it also plays a bit more into Superman needing the people's support like this story tried to do. I wanna make more comparisons but I am afraid I may have already spoiled too much.
But I'll say if you like sliver/bronze age Superman doing morally questionable things with hypnosis to solve his problems, it's there too. Sorta
yeah, she should cover that next.
Supes looks older than 30 to me, and based on the age of comics he should be.
Superman with sword Vs Superman with 100 mashed together miniguns. Who wins?
Alien machine-guns?
@@decidueyezealot8611 according to the hit comic Superman: At Earth's End, Batman kept 100 mashed together miniguns in the Batcave and Superman used it
(In his Fortress of Solitude)
Superman: Oh my God Sword, that was certainly a very weird and depressing adventure... I thought I got rid of it. Maybe I could give to Jonathan, it could be funny.
Re: the "star child" thing...
"Kal-El" is, according to Maggin's early 70s back-up story* "The Greatest Green Lantern of All", Kryptonian for "star child". it also figured into his 1978 prose novel SUPERMAN: LAST SON OF KRYPTON.
*SUPERMAN Vol. 1 #275.
This story sure seems to have a lot of moving parts that just sort of coincidentally come together--even by Superman comic standards.
1:17 "You can enjoy them in your own home. They feel good in your hand and that matters." Sasha, 2022.
Wow....You made it more interesting... You did a very great job!... Nice delivery, strong wit, rational, good voice, reminds me of Windsor. Thank you. Very engaging. You have another subscriber.
Now I can’t help but picturing Jimmy Olson as Orko lol
I really just love this content. You are a creator that makes the internet a better place.
I agree that the reading of Kal-El as hungry for the adoration of others is very different from my perception of the character. This sounds more like an author tract than a celebration of the beloved character.
I wonder how Percy Shelley would feel that his own legacy would be basically that his surname is more well known as his wife's, and that the poem Ozymandias is mostly remembered by total nerds.
Perhaps he'd think the point he was making with Ozymandias had proved true.
Preordained? There's a Neil Gaimen Sandman story where Despair was talking to an personification of a sun, saying if you blew up but there's only one survivor.
The readers letters reminded me of how Karl Smallwood describes Zack Snyder's DC movies "their symbolism is soo obvious that it feels deep in the minds of people too stupid to notice the more subtle symbolism and themes of better movies"... I'm not calling the fans of this comicbook stupid, I'm just saying those kinds of comics were a lot less common back in the day, specially with a character as mainstream as Superman
Now I want to see all the crossovers of Superman and He-Man.
I had this comic when I was a kid and before I knew how to read! So this comic was very confusing to me but it it captivated me! Over the years, I've tried to look for it in comic bins based on my vague memories of what the cover looked like. Thank you for finding it and sharing it's madness with the world!
@11:41 -- did she say the sword had "Big Bang Energy"? 🤣🤣🤣
Sasha, about that "star child" business -- some Silver Age story I read claimed that the name "Kal-El" translated directly into "star child." In other words, Clark Kent was a star child the day he was named!
Still hoping for an examination of the three versions of Superwoman!
three:
Super Lois (silver age/various)
That Super-Woman from the future (bronze age)
Super Lana (rebirth era)
Any others?
@@YouYubeUser228 There's also evil Wonder Woman, but that's more of a reused name. She did overlap with Super Lois during the New 52, though.
@@YouYubeUser228 I was thinking of the one from the future, Super Lois from Earth 3 (who is both Super Lois AND the "evil Wonder Woman", even if that wasnt clear in the "Crisis on Two Earths" animation), and the old woman who was a retired soldier and babysat Chris Kent for awhile, who was my personal favorite! So much potential in that character, but DC ruined it...I had completely forgotten about Lana, how long did she last?
Funny enough the Sword of Superman just made a brief reappearance in Batman vs. Robin #1 released today 9/13/22
Well, if Donny Cates ever writes Superman, we know what he’s bringing back lol
Seems easy to read this story as a cry for help from Maggin: "Recognize me!" I'd like to avoid this reading, but here I am.
eh, he already had enough recognition, I think he just want to tell a profound superman story.
i think ES!M CLEARLY wrote those "fan" letters himself
Pretty sure that in these stories we are seeing something trying to evolve Superman into a new god like figure, an archetypical being such as Darkseid or Highfather. I mean, a few of those silver/bronze age powers like the rainbow finger avatar projecting or the rainbow doom can easily be interpreted as the manifestation of new gods abilities in the plane of reality from the plane itself. I move this consideration because, after the dark crysis, we got for a while a supercharged archetypical superman that resembles a bit this guy
“Look at’em, grabbing it by the blade. Just using that invulnerability to the max!..” - Casually Comics
Why’d you sound so envious and sus with that line tho! lol 😂 BIG Lex Luther villain vibes 😂😂
This was one where the thumbnail did nothing for me, but when I saw the video I remember the sword and thought "I HAD THAT COMIC AS A KID!!!!"
I recall this being a throw-away story. It was in the last issue before the original Crisis rebooted everything, particularly Superman
I _think_ the whole Superman rejecting the sword might have been some last minute, shoehorned in, philosophical statement on the whole "freedom vs safety" debate.
By Superman rejecting the sword it's supposed to symbolize that he isn't putting himself above the common people, deciding what's best for humanity and babysitting them, thereby robbing them of their individuality and latent potential to rise above their pettiness. Heck, this seems to have backing in the very comic itself considering how many purple prose narrator lines seem to glorify humanity's gumption. resilience, and triumph in the face of adversity. Instead, Superman lets humanity develop with their own power.
This is very much a common theme in DC, and Superman stories in particular, that he is only ever meant to be a guardian, or shepherd of the people, and never a ruler, or leader. As a result, this ties into the theme of legacy by seemingly stating that Superman's greatest quality is the MAN in his name. By rejecting the sword, it symbolizes man rejecting a synthetic, stagnant godhood, and instead, choosing to develop as humans.
Ultimately, this implies that humanity's legacy is to surpass God, and by making the choice to reject apotheosis, Superman instead passes the "test", and is therefore congratulated by the divine being's voice, assuring him in the continuation of his (MAN'S) legacy.
Then again, I might be reading too much into this.
This reminds me of a piece from Doctor Who during the Matt Smith era where they explained that the word "Doctor" having all the meanings of healer, caretaker, savior and such comes from the fact that The Doctor himself has gone in and influenced it throughout the past by being the doctor
Agree that Annuals in the 80's had the capability to be epic... lookin' at mah boi Rot Lop Fan, from Tales of The Green Lantern Corps Annual #3 (1987).
Batman’s utility belt.
Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth.
Superman’s Justice Jogger!
I wonder if this story reads differently to us because of when we are reading. Older stories heavily relied on themes of destiny and chosen ones and specific legacies. Nowadays, the heroic resolve regardless of the situation is more compelling to us.
Doing the right thing means more when we weren't meant to do it because it was prophesized - people should do the right thing just because its the right thing to do.
Also, this may be just me, but I am sick of purple prose being used to make meaningless or simple thoughts seem more profound than they are. I got waaaaaay too much of that from Scott Snyder and James Tynion's Justice League run😅
lol yeah, really wonder why they do that.
As much as I love a lot of Elliot S. Maggin's Superman stories, I have to agree with you on this one: a lot interesting ideas that just weren't executed very well.
It was a good concept but they should have added more lore to it. The sword and the fact that superman’s dad got a dream that kept him awake until he drew the s could have done better at intertwining with superman’s legacy and his origin.
odd! can't wait to see more about it
"You know you want to hear about it!" - if it's the Silver Age, yes, every time!
Just found this channel and I love it. Funny, very funny.
Gotta love the Star Trek-bounding with that Wrath of Khan fiend jacket too you’re wearing!
I remember buying this book off the stands. I enjoyed it as a story and read it a few times, but overall it didn't have much of an impact on me, but I was just a kid who enjoyed the adventures. Listening to your analysis shows me how unsophisticated a reader I was back then, but even today I don't think I would have given it much more thought before I saw your video.
Remarkable how many billionaires in recent years have launched themselves into space, I wonder if they read this book too? On the most part, they all probably think they would like a better public perception these days
I remember finding this at my grandmother's house. I thought it was cool he had a sword, but the story was weird. But ultimately yeah, I liked the adventure and I was a kid who didn't know any better.
Hey. Can you please make a video on jean-scott-logan polygamous relation in the krakoa era, and general xmen relations in that era as well. Please. I know it's kind of a niche topic to request, and probably no one else will ask for it, bit PLEASE.
Would be interesting it's the most exciting he X-Men have ever been and I'm addicted, but it's a lot to cover in a single video. It would take a playlist.
The whole resurrection protocol, the gates, Krakoan medicines & tech, the mutant circuits & language, and Arakko (island, and planet), Mysterium (the new mutant metal)...
I’ve never seen Superman as someone who needs people to cheer for him. That seems out of character.
Yeah, that characterization came out of the blue for me as well. But I wasn't reading Superman in the mid-eighties.
"That's a tonal shift from the orange juice."
Best. Comment. De'jour.
I remember the annual with Batman and Luthor by Alex Toth, as well as "For the Man Who Has Everything," but if I read this Superman Annual, it didn't leave an impression on me.
I like the concept of looking into Superman as a preordained superhero considering DC aren't opposed to having one-offs looking into how important Kal is DC comic mythos but this comes across more so that he obsessed and almost whiny with his praise. Like you said I feel it would've been a much better annual if they had linked the sword as a way out of the praise he had loss and build on that by giving us the contrasting perspective of the public for then Superman to still reject the sword believing he'd forever be hated but still worth helping.